


There's a line between being politely engaged and just plain creepy

by 3x3



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, M/M, most of the characters I listed are only mentioned though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 08:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11985723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3x3/pseuds/3x3
Summary: Kuroo worries that he might have crossed that line when he starts to spend an unnaturally long amount of time staring at his (extremely attractive) neighbor.Not that it's anyone's business.Right?





	There's a line between being politely engaged and just plain creepy

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [窗户对面](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/320730) by 星夜von △. 



> So! School happened.  
> First fic since school started yo!  
> I ship Kuroo with too many people.  
> Aaaand my titles are getting longer and longer somebody help me solve this problem.

At first, it was an accident that Kuroo Tetsurou happened to catch his neighbor resting on the balcony.

He didn’t know much about him, after all, Kuroo had just moved in the previous week. He  _had_ caught the nameplate next to the door though,  _Tsukishima._

He remembered thinking about how  _clean_ the name sounded, pure and gentle and smooth, and seeing his neighbor in person, Kuroo thought that the man was  _perfect_  for his surname, fair skin, soft-colored hair. His head was tipped up, revealing his pale bare neck in an elegant curve. Black glasses settled on the bridge of his nose, contrasting the whiteness of his complexion. A silver shroud drenched on his figure, casting shadows to sharpen his angles. Under the shining light of the man’s namesake, he looked almost otherworldly.

Kuroo didn’t mean to stare, but he did anyway, at his neighbor’s nicely shaped features and admittedly, a little lacking build. He looked young, about Kuroo’s age, and he was  _tall._  It made Kuroo wonder if his neighbor had enough food in his system to support his towering height.

He didn’t want to disturb his neighbor’s peace, so he gave up on his previous idea to go out and get a hold of the fresh night air. Instead, he got a chair and sat behind the huge glass doors leading to his balcony, in a position convenient for him to study his neighbor, but secretive enough to keep himself well-hidden.

Kuroo didn’t admit it out loud, but he thought he might have a little crush.

* * *

He kept tabs on the balcony.

Tsukishima went on his two or three times each week, usually on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Sometimes he carried a mug of hot chocolate out with him, and drank quietly on his own.

Tsukishima was not always alone. He was often accompanied by a shorter, freckled childish-looking man with an ahoge bouncing on the top of his head, and occasionally, a man with hair a darker shade than his, who he called  _nii-chan_  would come join him on his little stargazing.

Kuroo often studied them too, and he found out that his friend was called Yamaguchi and his brother was called Akiteru.

And that Tsukishima’s first name is  _Kei._

On those night the balcony got a lot livelier than usual.

He used to speculate that this Yamaguchi fellow was his other half, by the close way they interacted, but soon dismissed the guess when he caught the name of Yamaguchi’s girlfriend,  _Hitoka_ , out of one of their conversations.

The sense of relief and giddiness ran over him, and Kuroo felt like a teenager again, refreshing and bold and brave and adventurous about anything, exploring everything  _appealing_  in the world.

If he was still that teenager, he thought that he would’ve gone straight up to Tsukishima’s door, barging into the other man’s life, invitation or not. But he was no longer that brash. He’d grown up, matured, and whether he liked it or not, he was a lot less courageous than from when he was younger. So he glanced from afar, hiding himself in disguises.

It was probably not the noblest of him to eavesdrop, but Kuroo couldn’t help with his curiosity.

It was dangerous, like a light luring him deeper and deeper involved.

* * *

He never managed to do anything though, only watch his neighbor as often as he could. His chair is practically rooted to that odd part of his floor. Yaku had asked him about the questionable placement once, and Kuroo only laughed it out. Kenma ratted him out though, and said,  _Kuro is spying on his neighbor like a love-struck schoolgirl._ The traitor. Kuroo had spluttered at that, pretesting that he was not actually love-struck.  _Just curious, okay?_ Thankfully his friends didn’t know anything about his neighbor _._  Naturally it gave him quite a fright when they asked him when they were going to meet  _Tsukishima Kei._

He had to grill them on how they found out the name, and Yaku had scoffed, rolling his eyes.  _Like it was hard._  He refused to elaborate though, and Kuroo had felt concerned ever since.

Kuroo came  _so_  close to bailing his own apartment and moving to South America forever when his kouhai from his workplace, Haiba had ran out onto his balcony, calling out Tsukishima’s name. He had to be restrained by his other workmates from killing the overgrown man child. Thankfully Tsukishima did not seem to be home, and it was the only reason Haiba was still very much alive and working as a receptionist at their office.

He was content to observe Tsukishima, all his beauty and flaws under the moonlight on his own in secret. Little by little, recording down every detail about the man, from the tip of his forehead to the bottom of his bare feet, in his mind. He explored him from head to toe, drawing a map of  _Tsukishima Kei._

Kuroo sometimes went out to his own balcony, on the days that Tsukishima didn’t. He never found out what was so appealing out here that caused Tsukishima to come out all the time. On those night he leaned far out on the railings, feeling the breezes on his face and taking in the scent of nightfall. He dragged out the cigarettes on his lips and puffed out tiny smoke rings, picturing Tsukishima’s face in his head. His crush didn’t feel like it was going anywhere.

* * *

One night though, a Friday, to be exact, as Kuroo was happily out on his balcony, smoking and a clutching a beer in his right hand, the slide door of his neighbor creaked open.

Kuroo almost fell onto his back when he heard a clear, masculine voice call his name.

He wondered if he was drunk when he twisted his head to find no other than Tsukishima Kei staring right back at him. His eyes were bright and piercing gold, and Kuroo couldn’t shake the feeling that they bore right into his soul.

“Kuroo- _san_?” his neighbor called out again.

“Huh?” he replied dumbly.

The man sighed softly, and Kuroo couldn’t help but laugh at his troubled expression.

“I apologize,” he slurred. “I’m a bit drunk right now.”

“A bit?” Tsukishima furrowed his brows, “You know it’s bad for your health to drink alcohol.  _And_  the cigarette?” He swatted the air in front of his face, wrinkling his nose.

“Sorry. Does the smoke bother you?”

He knew that if he weren’t drunk at the moment, he would never had the guts to stay here on his balcony, talking to Tsukishima Kei.

“I’m fine.”

Kuroo took out his cigarette, and killed it on the ground. It went out with a tiny  _hiss_.

“You’re not usually here on Fridays.” he said to his neighbor. “What’s with today?”

Tsukishima frowned. “Have you been  _watching_ me?”

“Not in a creepy way.” he laughed again. “But you’re a pretty interesting person.”

“Only you would think that, Kuroo- _san_. And you don’t even know me.”

“Fair enough.”

_He was interesting enough just like that._

“Wait.” Kuroo realized suddenly, “how do you know my name?”

Tsukishima finally smiled. “Most likely the same way as how your friends found out my name. By asking.”

“My… _friends_?”

“Kozume Kenma- _san_ , Yaku Morisuke- _san_ , and Kai Nobuyuki- _san_.” he counted. “They came ringing at my doorbell and said that they were your friends.”

“Dirty backstabbers.”

“So naturally I asked them about you. They told me quite a lot, actually.”

Kuroo snorted.

“What?” Tsukishima tilted his head. “You’re not mad?”

“Well, since you haven’t packed all your things and moved out the building yet, I’m guessing whatever they told you it couldn’t be  _that_  bad.” he chuckled, and took another gulp of beer. “Or even if it  _was that bad_ , you’re still here. So maybe you’re into that, and that’s making me feel pretty confident about myself.”

This time he managed to get a  _laugh_  out of Tsukishima, subtle, but it was there all the same, and it rang clear in the evening quietness. A certain smugness seeped onto Kuroo.

“I must inform you, however.” Tsukishima said to him after quieting down. “I am not currently in search of a significant other, as your friends suggested that you were interested in me for.”

Kuroo almost choked on his beer. “Wh- _no!_ ” he cried indignantly. “ _What did they tell you_?”

“Nothing much.” he replied lightly. “Just that you’ve been sitting in your apartment spying on me ever since you moved in here.”

“I  _did not_.” Kuroo protested. “Don’t tell me you trust them over your good old neighbor.”

“I barely know you, Kuroo- _san_.”

“Well you know even less about  _them_.”

“Not really, they’ve been over for dinner plenty of times by now. Nii- _chan_  loves them.”

Kuroo could only gawk. “You mean my traitorous ’ _friends_ ’ are going behind my back having pizza night with you when you never even thought to invite your wonderful neighbor? I’m insulted.”

“Ahh, not really.” Tsukishima told him truthfully. “I’m not quite fond of pizzas. We  _do_  occasionally have spaghetti together. Kozume- _san_  hogs all the extra ketchup.”

“Well that’s not fair.” he complained. “It’s only right that I get to catch up on all those dinners I missed. I will take no objections.”

To his surprise, Tsukishima actually looked quite amused. “Sure thing, Kuroo- _san_ , but let’s see if you still remember your invitation when you become sober.”

Kuroo smirked right back. After all, he was never one to back down from a challenge, not when he was a teenager, and certainly not at that moment. “Don’t worry.” he slurred. “I don’t get drunk from beer.”

“You sure?”

Tsukishima’s face slowly blurred in his vision, splitting apart and making everything in view hazy.

“Well, whatever you say, Kuroo- _san_.” Tsukishima’s voice was particularly unhurried, “Good luck with that.”

* * *

When Kuroo woke up the next morning with a splitting headache blooming in his mind and the exasperated glaring of his traitorous friend Yaku and the scornful distaste of his other traitorous friend Kenma, he had a new understanding that his tolerance of alcohol was a lot less than he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> First time I'm using the inspired system thingy so......  
> Just wanted to put it out there.


End file.
